Been riding on-road for 45 years and decided to take an off-road course to sharpen my on-road skills; form of cross-training. While excelling (i.e., probably going faster than I should have been) in higher speed turns on hard packed dirt I managed to drop the bike and my left foot came up pointing 90 degrees to the side. I have a closed spiral fracture of my distal fibula and transverse fracture of my medial malleolus, which allowed my foot to rotate laterally. Apparently the articular surface of the heal bone (talus) was scraped by the tibia as the heal rotated laterally. My foot was re-aligned within 10 minutes and I had surgery within 5 hours of the accident. The fibula was plated and the medial malleolus has a single screw in it. I was told 4 weeks non-weight bearing, 4 weeks in a boot and 4 weeks in normal shoes, but no heavy duty use. I'm 6 days out and have been surprised the pain has been far greater after the surgery than prior to it. If I go any distance on the crutches or leave my leg down for extended periods my toes start to swell and the ankle begins to ache. I've limited my intake of hydrocodone, but usually need it to sleep. Last night was the first time I was able to sleep off my back. I rolled to the right and placed a pillow between my legs.
I would very much appreciate any insights from anyone who has suffered a similar injury regarding things like when will the pain subside, when in the boot will I still need crutches-if so how long, what will my foot feel like when back in shoes (painful or just different), what your experience is years later, etc??? I realize every fracture is different so I am searching for a general range of experiences.